I’ve read the FDA guidelines and I’ve been reading it’s not enough. Is there any truth to this? Are there unsafe levels to ingest, and why are they unsafe?
In: Biology
Iodine is one components of your thyroid hormones. I think, just like with every thing, too much is bad. Too much free iodine may lead to toxicity.
As someone else pointed out, iodine is a component of thyroid hormone. It can get a little complex to talk about how thyroid hormone is made and how the body regulates its levels. However, one of the things that happens is that if the thyroid gland gets extra iodine, it can start making extra thyroid hormone, at times more than is needed. It will also store extra iodine. In really high doses of iodine, though, it gives up and shuts down thyroid hormone production completely, which is bad. Even worse, after awhile of being shut down, it will then start up again. This time though, with all that extra iodine around, it will go into thyroid storm. This is a huge surge of thyroid hormone that puts the body into overdrive so much that it can be fatal.
I’m not sure what controversy you’re referring to. Who is saying recommended amounts are not enough?
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